There is a pending complaint against him before the state Judicial Standards Commission

In his response to the complaint, Baugh has acknowledged making controversial remarks about victim Cherise Morales at Rambold's sentencing in August. According to the Montana Attorney General's Office, the judge said she looked older than her years and was "probably as much in control of the situation as was the defendant."

Morales committed suicide in February 2010.

"I am sorry I made those remarks," the judge wrote in his November 15 response. "They focused on the victim when that aspect of the case should have been focused on the defendant."

Baugh said he weighed all relevant factors in passing sentence.

"The defendant's last legal or moral transgression was the crime he committed and admitted," he wrote. "In the ensuing almost six years, he had legally and morally good conduct, he was reinstated in sex offender treatment and the undisputed evidence supported community placement and treatment."

The length of the sentence, Baugh's comments and the age disparity between defendant and victim drew criticism and a firestorm of media attention.

Rambold had sexual relations with Morales in fall 2007, when she was 14 and a student in one of his classes at Billings Senior High in Billings, Montana. She confided in a church group leader and Rambold was charged in October 2008 with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent.